A few years ago, Matt Dukes Jordan compiled Wierdo Deluxe to showcase today’s leading lowbrow and pop surrealist artists. With Weirdo Noir, he crawls into the cracks of the lowbrow genre to harvest some of the darker Gothic* works contained therein. Jordan’s introductory essay is a glimpse into the human obsession with what goes bump [...]
I am going to start this review off on a note and structure rather different than other book reviews of mine you’ve read of mine at the Functional Nerds and say this right up front: Prince of Thorns, a debut fantasy novel by Mark Lawrence, is a contentious novel with a mostly unsympathetic sociopathic [...]
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Ace; Original edition (February 28, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 1937007294 Official Description: Alex Verus is part of a world hidden in plain sight, running a magic shop in London. And while Alex’s own powers aren’t as showy as some mages, he does have the advantage of foreseeing the possible [...]
In episode 096 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome artist Len Peralta. About Len: Len Peralta is an Internet cartoonist. He’s been very fortunate to do some interesting illustrations. He’s drawn princes throwing up, Internet rock stars dressed up in skin-tight catsuits, illustrated a few books, drawn art for a [...]
Thomas Marcinko’s new anthology, Astronauts and Heretics, treats the reader to seven highly entertaining and imaginative stories. The first story, Faith in a Higher Power, tells of a world where super powers are strictly regulated and many treat their ‘gifts’ as an addiction. Despite this, the tale is playful and upbeat. Next comes Whiter Teeth, [...]
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Ace; Original edition (February 28, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 1937007286 Official Description: All Calliope Reaper-Jones ever wanted out of life was a fabulous job in New York City and a really hot boyfriend. But now, she’s the brand-new President of Death, Inc. With the Board of Death breathing down [...]
Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages Publisher: Ace; Original edition (February 28, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 1937007332 Official Description: Something is wrong with the souls of Chicago’s dead. Ghosts are walking the streets, and Agent of Death Madeline Black’s exasperating boss wants her to figure out why. And while work is bad enough, Maddy has a [...]
In episode 095 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome authors Saladin Ahmed and Tobias Buckell to talk about cultural influences in science fiction and fantasy. About Saladin: Saladin Ahmed was born in Detroit and raised in a working-class, Arab American enclave in Dearborn, MI. His short stories have been nominated [...]
Orson Scott Card‘s second book in the Ender series, Speaker for the Dead, takes place years after humanity’s war against the alien ‘buggers.’ Ender Wiggins, the former child hero of the Bugger Wars, has spent twenty years traveling from world to world, speaking for the dead – telling the truth about the lives of those [...]
Today on the Booze Nerd, I want to talk about another spirit that, like Absinthe, has an aura of mystery and myth surrounding it: mezcal. The first I heard about this “Mexican moonshine” was whispered promises of potency and the mystical visions that eating the worm at the bottom of the bottle would bring. Even [...]
Last May, I read The Winds of Khalakovo, and reviewed it here at the Functional Nerds. The Winds of Khalakovo is a secondary fantasy novel borrowing from cultures not usually invoked in fantasy–Tsarist Russia and ancient Persia. Throw in a pair of very different magic systems, very non standard cultural issues of duty and honor, [...]
Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages Publisher: Ace; Original edition (March 27, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 1937007375 Official Description: When homicide detective Alexandra Jarvis sees a photo of Seth Benjamin on a police bulletin, she knows that Heaven’s plan to halt Armageddon has gone terribly wrong. As the only mortal who knows of Seth’s true nature, [...]
In episode 93 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Lou Anders back to the show to chat with E.C. Meyers about Young Adult Fiction. About Lou Anders: Lou Anders is the 2011 Hugo Award winning editorial director of Prometheus Books’ science fiction and fantasy imprint Pyr, and editor of the [...]
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